9 Worst Recession Ghost Towns in America

[FreakinDJ]

America has a new kind of ghost town, haunted by the spirits of the recession. Developers caught up in the runaway housing boom overbuilt and oversold lots, houses and condos, leaving neighborhoods barren with uninhabited model homes, eerily desolate luxury condos, and abandoned McMansions in the aftermath of the collapse.

Most of these recession ghost towns lie in heavily-hit regions of the housing crisis: South Florida, Arizona, California and Nevada. Some in metropolitan areas like Phoenix and Miami, have a better chance of surviving after the housing market recovers, but others are in remote desert developments where municipal services have long since left. “We saw a lot of overbuilding in areas where there isn’t going to be much buying activity,” says Rick Sharga of RealityTrac. “Those areas are going to take a long time to come back, if they ever do.”

There are currently 18,700,000 vacant units across the country, according to Census data, and vacancies rates in the homeowner market have grown 12 percent since the recession started. Vacancies are the highest in the southern and western regions of the country.



http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/08/04/9-Worst-Recession-Ghost-Towns-in-America.aspx#page1

[dembotoz]

1. lots of people must have really lost their ass in these things

not just the corporations--but common folk too.

makes me feel more humble with my problems

and angry

wtf
just
wtf

[sarcasmo]

2. Makes me appreciate our little 1400 square foot home

with the small loan.

[FreakinDJ]

3. Makes me realize Washington doesn't care how bad working americans get hurt

[Mr Dixon]

4. WOW

No money to be made there, maybe the homeless can move-in some of those homes and lots.

[FreakinDJ]

5. As I watch my friends in the neighborhood move away with their families

It really makes me wonder where they are going, how they are getting by, how their kids are doing and all.

This has been made to be solely a financial crisis and no one reports the loss to human lives

[NNN0LHI]

6. Bustling town I grew up in full of businesses was torn down turned into a huge parking lot

And that was back in the 80's.

Don

[FreakinDJ]

7. Some where in the "Rust Belt" ?

Yep - we as a country stood by and watched the lives of so many be destroyed in the name of progress. I wonder if the country has learned our lesson yet.

[NNN0LHI]

8. Chicago suburb called Chicago Heights

And you are right about people who stood by and watched the lives of so many be destroyed in the name of progress too.

They didn't care until it began happening to them.

Then it was too late.

Don

[FreakinDJ]

9. We had a lot of "Urban Renewal" in the early 80s in my home town

but of course that only occured on the "Wrong Side of the Tracks"